Wes Streeting

“We need to learn to live with Covid.”

“The weakness of traditional canvassing is that it prevents a real conversation with people who are, on the whole, less tribal and more discerning than they have been in the past.”

“I represent a diverse constituency on the London/Essex border.”

“In my constituency I've got local authority schools, free schools, academies, I've got a grammar school, I've got independent schools that aren't far away - and the interesting thing is, whether I am walking into a local authority school or a free school or an academy, the name above the door matters less than what goes on inside the building.”

“My childhood hero was Timmy Mallett. He came to my primary school and it was the best day.”

“The majority of the public are experiencing the impact of Tory austerity on their public services, from longer waiting times for operations to a lack of visible community policing.”

“There are thousands of kids out there for whom higher education will never seem a realistic prospect but who have the ability and the potential to succeed.”

“The peddling of anti-Semitic stereotypes is an insult to a community that has suffered throughout history from the use of such imagery to create the myth of 'the great Jewish conspiracy.'”

“One of the privileges of my adult life has been meeting pioneers of LGBT equality, particularly Waheed Alli, Michael Cashman and Ian McKellen.”

“As I told the House of Commons, God, if we believe in such a thing, does not need protection from criticism.”

“Many families move to Ilford North because of our excellent schools and their reputation for academic achievement.”

“The challenge is to replace our broken higher education system with one that has the potential to transform the lives of individuals and to create opportunity.”

“My parents weren't massively religious when I was growing up, my granddad was and I got a lot of my Christianity from him.”

“The Conservatives have their own racist demons to confront: from the immigration policy that brought us the Windrush scandal to appalling Islamophobia at every level of their party.”

“Growing up with my mum, often I'd be the only person at home. She would spend a lot of time talking to me. She treated me almost like an adult; she used to get mildly rebuked by my dad and my grandad for that. But she gave me a degree of responsibility beyond my years; my own sense of agency and even my self-confidence, I get from her.”

“As someone who won both a Council seat and a parliamentary seat from the Tories, I know better than most how much well-resourced campaigns matter.”

“Politicians can't be expected to answer for the actions of their relatives.”

“For all the cynicism about the media, it is a noble profession. Most enter it with a strong conviction that sunlight is the best disinfectant. They champion the public interest by taking on vested interests.”

“Isis combatants, foreign and domestic, plan to attack us regardless of whether we extend airstrikes into Syria. The deadly and fanatical nature of this death cult requires a multi-faceted response to wipe out its military capability and erode its base of support.”

“There is no future for the Labour party in Corbynism without Corbyn.”